Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore
by ebnovotny
Summary: Troy Bolton leads a perfect life with two perfect jobs and a perfect, soon-to-be-wife. Unfortunately for him, it's all perfectly boring. When Sharpay Evans re-enters his life, however, he finds much more in her company than he ever thought possible.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They are the slaves of Disney and Kenny Ortega. I just like to make them do things.

Enjoy!!

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Prologue

_February 21, 2009_

_Troy Bolton looked at the celebration that was occurring around him with a huge smile on his face. Several people, most of whom he did not know, clapped him on the back and uttered different forms of congratulations. He smiled at them and gave them high-fives or handshakes as he made his way through the sea of people. He took the final gulp from his beer bottle before putting it down and exchanging it for another. He made a face as the amber liquid made its way down his throat. He didn't really like the taste, but he felt it was an appropriate drink for the atmosphere. _

_Berkeley, the college basketball team of which Troy was a member, had just won a regional game against the University of Albuquerque. While he didn't find much pleasure in completely crushing his best friend, Chad Danforth, in the game, he did enjoy the victory that his team earned. And though his team lost, Chad stayed for the party that commenced after the game, wanting to celebrate with his best friend._

_Troy's eyes were scanning the crowd now for the familiar afro his best friend sported when they came upon a different, yet equally familiar head of hair. He walked towards it, confused, yet intrigued. When he reached the blonde, he tapped on her shoulder._

"_Sharpay?" Troy asked, surprise apparent in his voice._

_She turned quickly and raised her eyebrows as she recognized the young man before her._

"_Troy!" she exclaimed, laughing and shaking her head. "Fancy meeting you here! Congrats, by the way."_

_Troy still looked at her with a puzzled look on his face, as if he couldn't comprehend why she would be standing here, at this party._

"_Yeah," he said. He finally smiled, as if awaking from a trance. "Thanks, Sharpay. Uh, why are you here?"_

"_Ryan dragged me here," she said, sounding slightly annoyed. She turned and looked for a minute before pointing across the room. Troy turned to look and saw the other Evans twin in an embrace with one of his own teammates, Tyler Davis. He just nodded, not feeling completely phased by the sight, most likely an effect of the beer in his system. Sharpay turned back to Troy. "Tyler used to go to the same musical camp that Ryan and I went to when we were kids. They reconnected last summer and…" she trailed off, shrugging._

_Troy looked back at Sharpay and smiled at her. It had been close to a year since he had seen her face and he found that he had missed it. As annoying as she had been in high school, Troy could never really get over the fact that she was sexy as hell. _

_He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "Do you want to dance?" she asked, raising her eyebrows._

_He nodded and she took his hand, leading him back into the sea of people. _

_Three hours later, Troy was on top of Sharpay, kissing her passionately. After dancing and talking for so long, they decided it would be a good idea to sit down somewhere. With alcohol-clouded judgment, Troy suggested his dorm room and Sharpay easily complied. It wasn't long before they found themselves in this embrace, both shirtless and already starting to sweat._

_Sharpay ran her nails down Troy's back and he moaned, attaching his mouth to her neck and sucking greedily. In one fluid movement, she removed her bra, throwing it to the floor. He moved his mouth lower, attaching it to one of her breasts. She pulled her long blonde hair up and out of the way, tucking it behind her head._

_Troy's hands worked to remove her skirt and underwear while Sharpay's hand unbuckled Troy's belt. She wiggled out of her skirt and looked up at Troy expectantly. That was all the encouragement he needed._

_The next morning, Troy awoke feeling severely hung over. He groaned and buried his face in his pillow as he tried to clear his mind. He heard a voice that sounded like it was in the distance. When he rolled over, he saw Chad standing next to his bed._

"_Troy," he said, and though Troy knew he was right next to him, it sounded as though he was a mile away. "Troy," he repeated. "Wake up, man."_

_It was several long moments before Troy sat up, rubbing his face with the palms of his hands. "What the…."_

_His mind flashed to what he thought was the night before: a blonde- haired dancer, moving against him. He closed his eyes tightly a tried to remember how he got into his bed. He looked up at Chad. _

"_Was there a girl in here this morning?" he asked, his voice low and still full of sleep._

_Chad shook his head, smiling slyly. "I didn't see any girl." He raised his hand, expecting a high-five. "Way to go, man!"_

_Troy slapped it, but shook his head at the same time. He cleared his throat. "Did you see me with anyone?"_

_Chad shook his head again, sitting down on the bed opposite from Troy's now, a look of concern on his face. "No, I didn't. Are you ok?"_

_Troy nodded quickly, not wanting to alarm his friend. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I just…you know…don't really remember last night." He laughed softly, trying to play it off as nothing._

_Chad smiled now and stood. "Yeah, I know how you feel." He clapped Troy on the shoulder once before making his way to the door. "I'm going to get some lunch. You coming? I don't really know my way around here, you know."_

_Troy turned to look at him and smiled as best as he could, despite his headache and deep confusion. "I'll be right there. Just let me get dressed."_

_Chad left and Troy looked around his bed for any clues that a girl had come home with him the night before. When he didn't find any, he collapsed onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He tried again to remember the girl he was dancing with, but she had her back to him, grinding against him. Without a face to remember, Troy found it impossible to recall who she was._

_He closed his eyes and tried again to remember how he got back to his dorm room. He could vaguely see images in his mind of himself with this girl in his bed, but groaned in frustration when he couldn't remember it all._

"_Maybe it was a dream," he muttered to himself. Resigning the situation as just that, Troy got up to get dressed. He decided he would go downstairs, have lunch with his best friend, call his girlfriend, and forget all about the foggy dream and the blonde girl that starred in it._

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	2. 1: A Perfect Life

Your reviews helped to get this chapter up as quickly as possible! Enjoy!

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A Perfect Life

August 2013

_A blonde girl, with hair flowing down her back, moving against him to the beat of the music blaring in the room. His hands on her hips, holding her body close to his._

_Rolling around his bed with this same girl, his hands running over her smooth, pale skin. His hands ran down her chest slowly, his index finger tracing the pink, rhinestone heart at the corner of her bra._

_His kisses traced slowly down her stomach and lower, causing her to giggle._

_Her giggles grew louder, into a full-blown laugh. Troy furrowed his brow, unsure why she was laughing like that._

"Are you okay, Troy?" he heard Gabriella ask him, laughter in her voice.

He looked over at her, quickly snapping out of his reverie. He put a quick smile on his face and he nodded, looking down at his plate and stabbing at his food with his fork. "Yeah, sorry!" he said.

Troy looked at his parents apologetically. He and his fiancée, Gabriella Montez, were having dinner with his parents for the first time in their new home. The couple moved into their home in Grove Park, a suburb just outside of Stanford, three months prior, but this was the first opportunity his parents had to come up to visit.

Gabriella spoke to him again, sounding concerned. "I was just telling your parents about that Funniest Home Video segment we saw with the talking dogs."

Troy raised his eyebrows a bit and nodded. "Oh, yeah. It was funny!" he said, not sounding totally convincing.

Troy's parents looked at each other knowingly for a moment before his father spoke.

"It's okay, Champ," he said as he beamed at his son. "We know you've got a lot on your mind." He turned to smile at Troy's mother.

Troy nodded, knowing all too well how much he currently had on his plate, though it had nothing to do with the blonde, dream woman he was just thinking about. He was named store manager at Home Electronics, a high-end electronics store that catered mostly to rich, snobby types affiliated with Stanford only three months ago. While Troy didn't really care for the clientele, he was paid extremely well for only having a bachelor's degree in business. It had enabled Troy and Gabriella to get this nice three-bedroom house in the suburbs. On top of that, he just earned, with his fiancée's help, the position of assistant coach for the Stanford basketball team.

"Yeah, I do. But it's nothing I can't handle," he laughed, trying to keep panic from showing on his face. Sure, he had what he always thought he wanted, but the pressure he now felt upon his shoulders was starting to worry him.

Gabriella reached out and touched Troy's arm. "I'm so proud of him," she said, smiling wide at Troy and then at his parents.

"And so are we," his mother agreed. "And we're proud of Chad, too," she added. "His mom and dad called us yesterday to tell us that he is getting all kinds of offers from professional basketball teams."

"I guess all that work in high school really paid off," Mr. Bolton chimed in, raising his eyebrows as he looked at Troy.

Troy nodded and Gabriella spoke up before he could. "Oh, you know? Speaking of high school, you'll never guess who I ran into in the super market the other day!" she looked at Troy while she spoke. He looked at her while he waited for her to continue, not even attempting to guess who she would be talking about. "Ryan Evans!" she exclaimed!

While Troy heard her clearly, when she said "Ryan Evans" an image of Sharpay flashed into his mind. He hadn't really thought of her since his freshman year college, when Ryan was around all of the time. One of the senior basketball players, Tyler Davis, was dating Ryan. When Tyler graduated, he and Ryan moved to San Francisco together, at least that was what Troy thought they said they were doing.

"He was walking around campus and we bumped into each other. Did you know that he owns his own entertainment company now? I guess Tyler funded the whole thing, but it really turned out to be a success and now he books entertainment for events!" she continued.

"Well, that's wonderful!" Troy's mother said, sounding excited. "He was always such a sweet boy. Don't you think so, Troy?"

Troy looked over at her, shaking the image of Sharpay from his mind and nodding in agreement. "Oh, yeah, definitely. He was a really cool guy."

The conversation continued down memory lane and Troy tried his best to stay involved in it, but his mind was still distracted. That night, Troy and Gabriella were in bed together, kissing softly.

Troy rolled over so that he was on top of her, deepening their kiss. His hand started to snake down her body. She stopped him after a moment, smiling and chuckling softly. "Troy," she whispered. "We can't do this now. Your parents are just in the other room."

He pulled away enough to look at her incredulously. "Are you serious? We're adults. They're adults! They're probably doing the same thing right now." He lowered his mouth again, this time using it to kiss her neck and collarbone.

Gabriella shook her head. "No, Troy. It just doesn't feel right. We need to stop."

Troy groaned and pulled back again, looking at her face. He studied it for any sign that she was joking. When he didn't find one, he sighed heavily and rolled over, back onto his spot in the bed.

She rolled onto her side to look at him. "I'm sorry, baby. Listen, we'll pick up where we left off as soon as they leave tomorrow, ok?"

He frowned and turned his head to look at her. "We can't. I'm taking them to the airport and then I have to go right to the university. We've got our first game coming up for the start of the school year and we have to make sure everything is perfect. Besides, you have to work tomorrow."

She moved to lie on her back again and sighed softly. "Well, I'm just sorry, then. Maybe tomorrow night." Troy cringed at the word "maybe". She rolled once more so that her back was to him.

Troy stared up at the ceiling, willing the erection that had started to grow in his boxers to disappear. He concentrated for a few moments on clichéd remedies—baseball and dead kittens—but nothing really seemed to work. He rolled over onto his side, facing Gabriella and looking at the back of her head.

"Hold me," she murmured, having realized that he rolled over to face her.

Troy looked at her silky, black hair for a moment longer before wrapping his arm around her, not getting too close for fear of her feeling his erection. He started to concentrate on evening out his breaths and it wasn't long before he was fast asleep.

The next morning, Troy awoke and showered. Before he even stepped into the kitchen he could smell his mother's cooking. He smiled to himself and hurried to get dressed. He pulled on a plain, white t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans. He went into the kitchen and went up to his mother, kissing her gently on the cheek.

"Morning, Mama," he said, taking in a deep breath and getting a stronger whiff of the food that she had cooking on the stove.

She turned her head slightly to kiss his cheek, keeping her eyes on the bacon, eggs, and pancakes she had before her. "Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?"

Troy pulled away and nodded. "Yeah, I did. Did you? That guest bed was comfy enough, right?" he asked as he went to the cabinet and began to pull juice glasses and coffee cups down. He went to the fridge next, getting out drinks for everyone.

His mother nodded, finally turning from the stove to look at him. "It was wonderful, honey. You're dad is still sleeping," she chuckled. Troy still felt her eyes on him a few moments after she stopped talking and he closed the fridge door to look at her.

"You ok, Mom?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

She smiled softly at him and nodded. "I'm just so proud of you." She walked to him and pulled him into an embrace. "I can't believe that my little boy is all grown up." She kissed his cheek and pulled away, going back to the stove.

Troy watched her, a small smile on his face. He could tell that she was getting emotional, as she always did whenever they talked about his jobs, or his new house, or his engagement to Gabriella. "Thanks, Mom," he muttered, wanting to the subject to shift away from him. Before he could open his mouth to change it, however, his mother spoke again.

"You're happy, right, honey?" she asked without turning around.

He frowned and looked at her back for a moment, unsure of what she meant. "Of course I am, Mom. Why?"

She shook her head and turned around now, smiling softly. "I just know that you are so busy and so is Gabriella. I just want you to be happy."

Troy nodded, going to her to hug her again briefly. "I'm very happy. Sure, we're both busy. Gabriella is working really hard on her master's degree and her internship, but we still find time for us." _Yeah, right_, he thought. _Not when I need it, anyway._

"Good," she said with a tone that said she was done prying. Before either one of them could say anymore, Gabriella joined them, dressed and ready for work. Her internship at the law firm associated to Stanford worked her to the bone, and sometimes very long hours, but it paid well.

Troy pulled her into a hug and kissed her lips softly. "Good morning, baby," he whispered into her ear as he held her close.

He could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke. "Morning." She pulled away sooner than he would've liked, but he let her go, watching as she grabbed a bagel from the bread cabinet and put it into the toaster. She looked at the time and moved a little more quickly as she got her thermos out, ready to fill it with coffee.

Troy's mother watched her a moment before speaking. "Good morning, Gabriella. I've made some breakfast. Do you have time to sit and eat with us?"

Gabriella shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't. I'm actually running a little late this morning and today isn't a good day for it, I'm afraid. But thank you. It smells delicious." She pulled her bagel out of the toaster and wrapped it in a paper towel before grabbing her coffee and going to Troy. She kissed his cheek quickly. "Love you, babe. I'll probably be home late." She went to Troy's mother and gave her a one armed hug. "Have a safe flight!"

Troy's eyes followed her as she blew him a kiss and left through the door to the garage. Shortly after, he heard the garage door being lifted and her car pulling out of the driveway. He smiled sheepishly at his mother and shrugged.

After breakfast, Troy drove his parents to the small Stanford airport and hugged them goodbye. He took off from the airport and made his way towards Stanford University, music blaring from his car. When he graduated, he retired his old, beat-up truck and got a silver Honda Civic (with the help of his parents). The sound system was incredible—allowing him to turn the music up as high as he wanted without risk of distortion.

Troy pulled into his spot next to the head coach's car and smiled at his name marking the spot. One of the perks of his fiancée's ability to get him a job at the school was the fact that he was able to start pretty high at the top. Assistant coach to the basketball team was exactly the right position for him while he was also working as a manager at the electronics store. While he would've been able to get a job at Berkeley, his alma mater, he probably would have had to start lower in the ranks.

He entered the school and pulled his sunglasses from his head. He tossed them onto his desk when he entered his office and barely had a chance to sit down when he heard the head coach of the team calling out his name. He stepped out of his office and saw the coach standing near the entrance to the basketball court. Troy walked towards him, smiling.

"Did you need me, Coach Johnston?" Troy asked. The older man looked at him and smiled.

"Hey, Troy. Right on time. We've just hired a new member for our staff and I want you to meet her," he said, leading the way onto the court.

As they got closer, Troy could hear loud music thumping. When they reached the court, Troy saw a group of young women practicing a gymnastics routine. Next to them was a woman dressed in a tracksuit with short blonde hair, clapping her hands and counting loudly.

"Sharpay!" the coach called out. Troy widened his eyes and looked at the girl in the tracksuit. _Sharpay?_ he thought. _There's no way! _

When the short-haired blonde didn't turn around, Troy turned to look at the head coach. Now standing next to him was a girl with a face he knew all too well—Sharpay Evans.

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I hope you enjoyed it! I feel pretty good about this chapter. Please let me know what you thought!


	3. 2: Catching Up

A/N: One of these days, I will be update regularly. I promise! A best friend is getting married, I'm working, and I have so many different stories floating in my head. All of that together makes it difficult. But I'm trying! Enjoy!

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Catching Up

"Troy, I would like for you to meet Sharpay Evans."

Troy looked at the familiar blonde as she stood next to Coach Johnston. He had just been thinking about her the previous day and now she was standing in front of him, looking more gorgeous than he remembered her being in high school.

"Troy?" the coach asked.

Troy looked at him now and smiled, recovering. "Yeah! Sorry!" He smiled at Sharpay. "We've actually met before. Sharpay and I went to high school together."

Sharpay smiled at him and reached her hand out for a handshake. "It's really good to see you again, Troy. It's been a long time."

Troy took her hand and shook it. "Too long," he added. "I haven't seen you since…when? Graduation?"

She looked at him a moment before nodding. "Yeah. That seems about right."

Coach Johnston smiled. "Sharpay here is our new event coordinator. She works with Evans Entertainment."

Troy didn't look at the coach as he spoke, but he did raise his eyebrows as he looked at Sharpay. "Evans Entertainment? Is that…?"

Sharpay smiled. "It's Ryan's company. I work for him." Troy looked at her in surprise. He never expected to hear that phrase come from her lips. He always thought it was the other way around. Ryan seemed to work for Sharpay when they were in high school.

The coach looked between the two a few times before clearing his throat. "Well, I think I'll leave you two to catch up." He started to walk away, but then turned to look at Troy. "Troy, I want practice to start at 4 pm sharp tomorrow."

Troy nodded and then turned to look back at Sharpay, but she was looking at the gymnasts. He took the opportunity to look her up and down quickly. She was wearing her signature color, pink, with her long blonde hair curled and pulled up. She looked older and professional, but still so much like the Sharpay he remembered.

She turned to look at him and his eyes quickly snapped back to hers. "So," she started. "How are you, Troy? You look great."

He smiled at her. "Thanks. You do, too. I'm doing well." He gestured to the court. "How are you?"

"I'm doing really well. Ryan was gracious enough to give me this job and it turns out I'm pretty good at it." She smiled wide. "It's not exactly the Broadway career I had hoped for, but it makes me happy."

Troy was blown away by her maturity. He almost couldn't believe it was the same Sharpay Evans that he knew so many years ago. The pair spent a little more time catching up before the basketball team arrived. Sharpay escorted the gymnastic team off of the court as Troy got the basketball team ready for practice. When the practice was over, Troy had hoped he would be able to talk to Sharpay some more, but she had already left.

That night, Troy got home to find his fiancée at the dining room table, her papers sprawled all over as she worked on her laptop. He stopped at the sight and sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get any tonight. He went to her and placed a kiss on the top of her head. She smiled up at him, but then wrinkled her nose.

"Babe," she said. "You smell."

Troy frowned and sighed heavily. "Yeah. I'm going to go take a shower and then go to bed."

She nodded as she looked back down at the computer screen. "Okay, honey. I'll be in late. I already have so much work due."

He nodded and walked away without saying anymore. He walked into the bathroom that was attached to the bedroom and turned the shower on, turning the temperature up high. He peeled the clothes off of his body and threw them into the hamper before climbing into the shower and sliding the glass door closed.

Troy leaned with his head against the wall and let the water cascade down his back. He turned his face up towards the water and let it run over his face as he kept his eyes closed. He grabbed the soap and began to clean up, trying hard to let his frustrations with Gabriella wash away with the sweat on his skin. As he washed lower, he thought of the times when she couldn't get enough of him.

During their senior year of high school, Troy and Gabriella took the final intimate step by losing their virginities to one another. Troy had heard once that girls wanted sex just as badly as boys did and he found that to be true in his girlfriend. She always wanted to be alone with him and he had no complaints.

When they were freshmen in college, every possible moment was spent fucking. They couldn't keep their hands off of each other, especially because they had to spend so much time apart. By the end of their junior year, they were engaged. Things were falling into place just as Troy hoped that they would.

Somewhere along the line, however, things had gotten off track. When they graduated, Troy got promoted along with getting a new job and Gabriella began her second year in her internship, which was incredibly demanding. All things intimate stopped, even though they moved in together. Troy never considered himself to be overly needy in the sex department, but he felt things were getting a little ridiculous.

He wrapped his hand around himself and began to stroke slowly as he imagined having sex with his fiancée. He used experiences with her to put together a scene where she was naked and on top of him, riding him. He leaned against the shower wall for support as he began to stroke faster. After a few moments, he began to think about the mystery blonde girl. His dreams of her were so vivid that they were often better than the fantasies he created that starred Gabriella.

It wasn't long before he came. He tried to not think about the fact that the blonde always did it for him better than his fiancée. He finished cleaning himself and quickly washed his hair before he got out of the shower. He opened the bathroom door and hoped half-heartedly that Gabriella would be there, waiting for him. But she wasn't. He sighed and put his pajamas on, collapsing onto the bed.

The next day, Troy worked at Home Electronics in the morning. He dealt with several angry customers who liked to gripe about nothing. He wasn't in the best mood when he arrived at the school, but tried to put the morning behind him as he thought about tonight's big game. It was his first as assistant coach and he wanted it to go well.

He got to his office and dropped his things off. He went straight to the court to prepare for the team's practice. When he was finished, he picked up a basketball and dribbled it a few times before shooting it up to the basket. It went through with a satisfying swish. Behind him, Troy heard the sound of soft clapping. He turned and saw Sharpay standing in the door way, smiling at him.

"Nice shot, Bolton. Just like old times," she said, walking towards him slowly.

"Thanks, Sharpay."

"I bet you couldn't do it again, though." She raised her eyebrows playfully.

He looked at her a moment with a look on his face that said "are you kidding me?" He turned and made another basket easily. He turned to face her again, smiling. She was just one the other side of the half court line now.

"I bet you couldn't do it again….from here," she said, stopping.

He made his way towards her, dribbling the ball slowly as he went. "What do you want to bet?" he asked.

She thought a moment before smiling. "Dinner. Tonight. After the game. The loser has to buy."

He nodded once. "You're on."

He stood beside her and dribbled the ball once. Twice. He shot the ball. _Swish_.

He smiled wide at her and she shook her head as she watched the ball bounce beneath the basket. She turned to face him. "Fine. But I get to pick where we eat." She winked and turned, walking back off of the basketball court.

Several hours later, Troy and Sharpay were sitting across from each other in a nice restaurant that Sharpay had picked. Troy tried to protest, but she said it was well deserved after his team won their first basketball game with him as assistant coach. They had already finished their dinner and were both picking at their desserts, barely eating. Instead, they talked. They did their best to recap the last five years since they had seen one another.

It wasn't until they realized that they were the only two patrons left in the restaurant that Sharpay pulled out her pink, leather wallet. Troy opened his mouth to protest again but she shook her head.

"Please, Troy. It's my treat. Besides, I bet against you and you won! It's only fair," she said as she pulled her credit card out. She turned around to look for their waiter.

Without really meaning to, Troy innocently looked down at her wallet. He tried his best not to be nosy as he leaned forward to look at it. After scanning her driver's license, in which she looked adorable, and various credit card-type cards, Troy's eyes landed on a picture of a young girl that Troy guessed to be around two or three. The picture was too far away for him to make it out perfectly, but the young girl was a spitting image of Sharpay, right down to the blonde curls.

Sharpay turned to face him and she followed his eyes to her wallet. She widened them and then looked up at his face, trying to read it.

Troy looked up at her. "Who is that?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but the server arrived at that moment to take her credit card, looking annoyed and tired. She gave it to him with an apologetic look on his face before turning back to Troy. "She's my sister," she said, picking up her billfold and handing it to him for a better look.

Troy looked surprised. "Sister?" he asked.

Sharpay nodded. "Yeah. It turns out my parents got too lonely after Ryan and I went away to college." She laughed softly. "Her name is Finley."

He looked down at the picture and studied it more closely. She definitely took after Sharpay—perfect facial features and beautiful blonde hair. Everything matched except for her eyes. Where Sharpay had a deep brown set, this little girl had clear blue eyes. He looked up at her with question in his own. "Blue eyes?"

She nodded. "It's recessive."

Troy didn't know much about genetics so he took her word for it and passed the wallet back. "She's really cute."

Sharpay smiled wide. "Thanks, Troy. She's really great." The waiter came back with Sharpay's credit card and she signed the slip as Troy got their coats. He walked her to her car and he smiled.

"This was really great," he said. "I'd like to do it again."

She nodded in agreement. "Me, too. It was fun. Maybe after the next game." She smiled and unlocked her car.

"You've got it."

Sharpay went to Troy and pulled him into a hug. There was something about her perfume or shampoo that gave Troy a strange familiar feeling. He closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath.

"It's been wonderful catching up with you," she said softly.

He nodded. "Agreed." They separated and she smiled wide at him before getting into her car. She offered a little wave and pulled out of the parking lot.

Troy got into his own car and was unable to wipe the smile from his face the entire way home. He walked into the house and found Gabriella at the table again. He went to her and kissed her head. They exchanged a brief conversation about her day and the basketball game before Troy went to their bedroom. He knew that she wouldn't join him in bed again tonight, but, for the first time, he didn't really care.


	4. 3: Just Good Friends

A/N: Yay!! Two chapters in one week! Enjoy!

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Just Good Friends

The next few weeks went by quickly for Troy. He stayed busy with work at Home Electronics and the basketball games at Stanford. He saw Sharpay often as she worked to get the half-time entertainment for the basketball games. After every game, the pair went out to dinner. Troy felt like he had a friend for the first time since graduating college. Gabriella was working so much and Chad was quickly becoming an important member of an out-of-state basketball team. Troy never felt like he had anyone to really talk to until Sharpay became a regular feature in his life.

When Stanford would win a basketball game, Troy would always treat Sharpay to dinner. When Stanford lost, she bought dinner for him to cheer him up.

"I'm kind of getting used to this free dinner thing," Troy said one night as they sat across from each other in Sharpay's favorite restaurant.

Sharpay smiled at him. "Well, I'm glad you enjoy it."

"Maybe we should switch it up. Let me buy you dinner."

Sharpay shook her head and leaned forward. "That wasn't the deal. When the team wins, you buy. When the team doesn't do as well, I buy. It's not fair to make you buy dinner after the team…well…you know…doesn't...."

Troy watched her for a moment before laughing at her discomfort. She looked back at him and smiled before laughing softly. "What?" she asked.

Troy shook his head, still smiling. "You can say it. We suck. We've only won four games."

"Well yeah, but out of…how many have you played?"

"A billion and one, I think. Yeah. At least a billion."

Sharpay laughed again and Troy found himself smiling wider as he watched her. He opened his mouth to speak again, but felt his cell phone begin to vibrate in his pocket. He furrowed his brow and pulled it out. It was Gabriella calling.

Troy looked at Sharpay regretfully. "I'm sorry, Pay. I'll be right back."

He bit his bottom lip as he stood, hoping Sharpay didn't mind as that little nickname rolled off his tongue. He had never called her that before but it felt so good when he did.

He stepped out of the private room they were in and answered his phone.

"Hey, babe," he said softly.

Gabriella's voice was smooth, but had a hint of frustration. "Hey, Troy. Where are you?"

Troy furrowed his brow, trying to remember if he was supposed to be somewhere. "I'm at dinner. I had a game tonight, remember?" He wasn't sure that he should disclose the fact that Sharpay was his dinner partner.

"Yes, I remember. Do you remember telling me that you would be home right after the game?"

Troy didn't recall that bit of information. She was always doing the same thing after his games—working. Sometimes she was even working at the office where she had her internship. Troy never imagined she would care that he was going out to dinner.

"I don't remember that, Gabi. I'm sorry."

She sighed heavily into the phone and he winced a bit. "We were going to sit down and talk about setting a wedding date."

Troy sighed softly. He vaguely remembered now. When Gabriella finally crawled into bed after he had already been asleep, he sort of remembered her mentioning the wedding. He thought that he had grumbled a reply, but he didn't realize it would keep him from tonight's dinner.

"I'm really sorry, sweetie. I'll be home soon, ok?"

"I guess. I just have to get some stuff done."

"Well, go ahead and work on it now. We can look at wedding stuff as soon as I get home."

That seemed to satisfy her because her voice was only sweet now, void of all frustration.

"Sounds perfect, baby. See you soon."

"Okay, babe. Bye," he said, anxious to get back to dinner.

"I love you," she insisted.

"Love you, too," he rushed.

They both hung up and Troy ran his fingers through his hair before going back to Sharpay. He sat down with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry about that. It was Gabriella."

Sharpay nodded. "Of course. I understand." She studied his tired face for a few moments before frowning. "Troy? Are you all right?"

Troy looked at her a moment and contemplated her question. When had been the last time that someone had asked him how he was? He constantly dealt with other people's problems and stresses. He didn't really have time to assess his own.

Being the manager of an electronics store, an assistant coach to a college basketball team, and a fiancée was beginning to spread Troy a little too thinly. On top of that, he had too many customers that liked to complain and a team that couldn't win even if the opposing team was blind. Gabriella was busy when he needed her and demanded his time when all he wanted was to enjoy dinner with Sharpay.

When Troy finally spilled about all of the pressure he felt on him, Sharpay reached across the table and touched his hand softly.

"Troy," she started. "You are a great manager. They wouldn't have promoted you if they didn't think you could do it. While you do have customers that come in complain about things out of your control, you always find away to get them to leave with a smile on their face."

Troy nodded in agreement, his eyes glancing down to her hand on his and then back to her face.

She continued. "You are also a great coach. You care about the team and they know that you do. We're barely into the season. There is plenty of time to turn this thing around."

Sharpay smiled at him. "And, as long as you want me to, I'll be here for dinners to help you take your mind off of all of your problems."

Troy laughed softly. "Thanks, Sharpay. Your friendship really means a lot to me."

She kept the smile on her face as she looked down for a moment. "You know, you can call me 'Pay' if you want." She looked back up at him. "I like it." There was a soft blush on her cheeks that Troy found to be incredibly adorable.

"All right, then, _Pay_," he said, smiling wide. "I should probably get you home."

Because of the frequency of the games that week and the dinners that always followed, Troy just picked Sharpay up at her home before practice and dropped her off on his way home.

On the car ride home, Troy and Sharpay sang along to the radio and laughed. In this confined space, Troy could always smell her shampoo. It raised familiar feelings in the pit of his stomach, but he couldn't really figure out why. He just assumed he remembered it from high school.

"I really like your shampoo, by the way. It smells so familiar. It reminds me of high school," he finally admitted.

Sharpay smiled at him. "Thanks, Troy. That's sweet, but I didn't have this shampoo in high school. I discovered it right after we graduated when my family went to France for summer vacation. I've been having it imported ever since."

Troy furrowed his brow. "Really? It reminds me of something, then…I just don't know what."

"A good something?" she asked, a small, cute smile on her face.

Troy laughed softly and nodded. "Oh, yeah. Definitely."

When they pulled into the driveway, Troy saw her familiar pink convertible and a green car that he didn't recognize. He furrowed his brow and looked at her with question in his eyes.

She looked back at him a moment with a blank look on her face before speaking. "It's Ryan's car," she said, smiling now. "He stays with me sometimes when he's in town."

"Oh, okay. Well, tell him I said 'hi'." Troy smiled at her and unlocked the doors. "I'll see you Friday night?"

She nodded and opened the door, seeming distracted. "Yeah, Friday. I'll see you then. Thanks for the ride, Troy." She got out and shut the door. She offered him a little wave before going into the house.

Troy waited until she was inside with the door shut before he pulled out of her driveway. The entire drive home, he tried to keep his good mood up and prepare himself for Gabriella's wedding talk when he got home.

He pulled his car into the garage and got out, going into the house. Gabriella was sitting in their living room, lounging on the couch with an over-sized wedding magazine in her lap. She smiled up at him and shifted so that he could sit beside her. Troy actually felt happy to see her. He walked through the kitchen, tossing his keys onto the counter, then went to her and sat beside her, wrapping his arm around her.

"Okay, babe. I'm here," he started. "Let's talk."

Gabriella smiled up at him and kissed his cheek. "I want to get married this spring."

He raised his eyebrows. "Spring, really? That doesn't leave much time to plan, does it?"

"It gives us six months," she shrugged. "That's plenty of time."

Troy widened his eyes a bit. "Six months? You're so busy, babe. I'm not sure we could do it in that amount of time!"

Gabriella sighed heavily and got up, tossing the magazine into her empty spot. "Do you even want to get married, Troy?"

"Of course, I do!" he said, standing. He wasn't sure where this was coming from. He wanted to marry her, he just felt like six months from now would be too soon.

She shook her head. "Then why does it matter when we actually get married? Why can't we do it in six months?"

"If it doesn't matter, why can't we get married in 12?" he asked, but the look on her face after that made him realize that was the wrong thing to say.

She clenched her jaw and started to walk away. "I can't believe you, Troy. You're being really inconsiderate."

Troy went after her as she went down the hall towards their bedroom. "I'm not! I'm sorry. I just think six months is too soon."

Gabriella rounded on him quickly. "Who do you keep having dinners with?" she asked.

Troy was taken aback. He didn't realize that she even noticed he was gone. He opened his mouth to answer, but snapped it closed again. Lying by omission was one thing. Troy didn't think he could lie to her about who he was with, even if that meant that he might have to face her wrath.

"Sharpay Evans," he admitted, trying not to sound guilty, because he shouldn't feel guilty. "She arranges entertainment for our basketball games."

Gabriella just looked at him and Troy couldn't figure out exactly how she felt about knowing Sharpay was his dinner date. She just shook her head.

"I'm going to bed, Troy. I'll see you in the morning." She said it with a tone that said he wasn't invited to follow her. He sighed heavily as he watched her go into the bedroom and shut the door. He went to it and leaned against it.

"She's just my friend, Gabi," he spoke softly at the door, knowing she could hear him. "We work together and…" he trailed off. He was quiet another moment before stepping back. He went to the kitchen and retrieved his car keys from where they landed on the counter.

Troy got into his car and turned the music up, grateful once again for the superior sound system. He started to drive and didn't really realize where he was going until he pulled onto Sharpay's street. Once in her driveway, he turned his car off and sat for a moment, looking at her house. It was relatively smaller than the one he knew her parents owned in Albuquerque. He guessed it to be a two-bedroom home, three at the most. Her pink convertible was still in the driveway, but Ryan's green car was gone. He got out of his car and made his way towards her door, ringing the doorbell.

It wasn't until several moments later, and right before Troy was going to leave, that Sharpay came to the door, wrapping a pink robe around her slender body. She opened the door and stepped out onto the small porch.

"Troy? Are you all right?" she asked, frowning.

Troy looked her up and down briefly before looking into her eyes. "I-…. Gabriella and I got into a fight." He shrugged, not knowing what to say now that they were face to face.

"I'm sorry, Troy." She went to him and pulled him into a hug. He held onto her and buried his face in her hair, smelling that familiar scent again. They separated and Troy looked at her for a long moment before she made an apologetic face. "I can't invite you in tonight, Troy. I'm sorry. Not that I'm not concerned about you…I just…can't."

He smiled at her and nodded. "Of course. I should've just called. I just needed to get out. Don't worry about it, Pay."

She pulled him into another hug and then pulled back, stepping back into the house. "I'll see you Friday, okay?"

Troy nodded again and waved as he back off of her porch. "Friday. I'll be here." He turned around and walked back to his car, feeling like an idiot. He rested his head against the headrest and closed his eyes.

"She has a boyfriend, doesn't she?" he asked himself in the dark. He nodded in answer to his own question. "I'm so fucking dumb."

He started his car back up and left her house, feeling more terrible than when he arrived five minutes earlier.


End file.
